I’m putting this entry together as my team gets ready to depart for the Tim Hortons Brier. The days before the Brier are always exciting times — it’s such a great event and an incredible Canadian tradition.

Medicine Hat hosted a Canada Cup that was great in every way except for, well, the way that final game turned out. (Actually, even that was good for the fans. While I’ll never get used to losing, Glenn Howard made a beauty to win.)

Last year at this time, I was starting the most important season of my curling career. All the preparation that my teammates and I had done was going to be tested as we sought to qualify for the Olympics and capture gold.

As Labour Day weekend rolls by, curlers start to think about getting back on the ice again. In fact, many have already been on the ice — it seems that more and more clubs offer camps and leagues in late summer.

The Vancouver Olympics was, of course, one of the very best experiences of my life. In this month’s blog entry, I’m going to share with you some of the fitness- related things that my team and I did throughout the month we spent in Vancouver.

The summer months are my favourite time of year to train. Not only can I vary my workouts to include a lot of outdoor activities — hello Vitamin D! — but I also don’t have to worry about cutting my weekly training short because I have to get on a plane and fly to a spiel.